I am having a problem with an idea of mine that I thought would be pretty neat. what I am wanting to do is to take a broken motherboard from an old computer and submerge it in a tank (also considering trying to wire in some leds in just for fun). The problem comes in when i try to find a sealant to protect it from corrosion and the tank from harmful heavy metals. I have considered many things. GE silicon I would be safe for the fish but could ruin and discolor the electrical components. GE silicon II would be safe on the electronics but would kill the fish.... according to the one guy at the GE sealant call center ..called twice same guy answered. I also heard that Krylon Fusion spray paint was safe but it dose not come in clear and how cool is it if its painted blue. I am looking for any option but would like to stay in a lower price range but i really want this to work ... come on internet machine don't fail me!

Fishin Pole

07-24-2009 08:09 AM

i think your asking for problems with all the different types of material being used in electronics these days.......Submerging it in a fish tank, i think its gonna leech something into the water, and nothing that will be good..........If your gonna try it, i would start small scale and use cheap goldfish, no reason to sink money into it, till you know how its gonna react..........

DSchro18

07-25-2009 02:41 AM

Update

Ok i have been researching a bit more and am curious if anyone can recommended a good epoxy that could seal it up if so plz link where i can find them and any details that i might need to know about safe vs non safe .... still any other suggestions are welcome thanks

nomel

07-26-2009 03:39 AM

hahah...omg no...I work with electronics...sooooo many nasty chemicals used on/in the components during every step of their manufacturing and mounting! Flux, nasty epoxies, cleaning acids...no way!

Maybe you could spray many layers of water insoluble clear lacquer labelled "baby safe"? If it were me, I'd let it soak in water for a while to help let any chemicals that will leach out do just that. I'd also probably do a few carbon filter changes after putting it in to help grab hold of any chemicals that do come off. *shrug* It'll be interesting! If you do use "non toxic" lacquer...do you think it'll leach less chemicals that those nice brightly colored plastic "non toxic" (but horribly smelling) fish tank decorations from china? I wouldn't imagine it'd be all that different...but that's my purely out-of-the-air opinion.

btw..nerd! :-P

jmlampert23

11-15-2009 09:10 PM

that would be a great idea if you want to kill all your fish and destroy your tank. there is so many chemicals inside of all of those resistors, capasitors and not to mention that the board itself is covered with copper and lead solder

fighttest

11-15-2009 09:23 PM

i think you should go with a biotope

jeaninel

11-16-2009 12:00 AM

Just curious...what were you planning to do with the board inside the tank?

teddyzaper

11-16-2009 11:40 PM

i think he thinks it will look cool, but this is definatly a no no. there is harful chemicals on every inch of it and if ANY of it is touching the water your fish and plants will die within a week.

Angel079

11-17-2009 09:12 AM

I can only second what's been said before: Don't do it. Specially computer parts, they'll release a bunch chemicals that you really do NOT want in the tank and I highly doubt you can seal them fully AND seal them with something that's not toxic to the fish neither.
After all, there's a reason why lake/ rivers that get trashed dump in or near them all die out (plants & fish). So from that POV I can see how its sorta 're-creating' a piece of our outdoors, but I don't think it should be the prefered version.

There's some pretty cool looking rocks and driftwood out on the market and a bunch very good looking plants, had you considered something like that?

fighttest

11-17-2009 10:47 PM

i once had an idea to create a chesapeak bay biotope find an old tire along with a gas can and some old coke cans and throw them in a tank. i was going to sterilize everything before putting it in of course and add a few sparse grasses hear and there.